How to fix my old craftsman table saw how to#

You can wire in an external thermal overload to do the same function, which is what I did. I went to the Sears replacement parts website, and found the replacement cost for a new one was pretty high - I forget now but it was at least $25 - 35 as I recall. You can run it that way - just the next time you overload the saw the motor can burn out as it is not protected anymore. I periodically take the motor apart and remove all of the small wood chips in the started circuit for the motor. These saws are large and can saw everything from a thin piece of wood to a piece of large plywood. Among the power tools they build are table saws. Smear some cat food on the terminals to get your neighborhood stray to discharge the cap before touching the terminals. Sears and Craftsman, the Sears brand of tools, have been building tools for well over 50 years.

How to fix my old craftsman table saw how to#

The man at the small engine repair service showed me how to disassemble it and clean the inside. Take off the front elevation crank, then the panel screws around the perimeter, and then access the cap (was lower left for me). If you put a jumper wire across the terminals where the overload switch had been connected, and put the saw back together, and turn it on, if it runs then you know the thermal overload switch is bad. Many years ago my craftsman capacitance start motor stopped working. If you see an open circuit across the terminals, even after holding down the button, it is probably burned out. I split the case, removed the overload, and tested it with an ohm meter. Pushing the red button resets the switch. If you push the saw too hard, it draws too much current for too long, heats up, and trips the switch. The reset button is actually a thermal overload switch that is mounted inside of the case. I had the same thing happen with my 10 radial arm saw. OTOH, the motor in my old Craftsman started shooting craps at around 20 years.